Did you forget to celebrate International Volunteer Day?

Mary Beth Harrington

Corbin Low Vision Resource Center
2103 Harrison Ave NW
Olympia, WA 98502
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This past Sunday, December 5^th, was International Volunteer Day, (#IVD2021) a project of the United Nations Volunteers Programme (UNV) which, according to their website, “recognizes and promotes the tireless work, not just of UN Volunteers, but of volunteers across the globe.” This year’s #IVD2021 theme “Volunteer Now for our Common Future” encourages each of us to act now whether in small ways or large for the future of our planet and future generations. I’ll try to do my part by including volunteer opportunities in this column.

What You Need to Know

According to the #IVD2021 website:

• 70% of volunteer work does not involve any organization but happens informally between people in their communities.
• A key risk factor for depression is social isolation. Volunteering keeps you in regular contact with others and helps you develop a solid support system, which in turn protects you against stress and depression.
• Research indicates compared with people who never volunteered - the odds of being “very happy” rose by 7% among those who volunteer monthly and by 12% among those who volunteer every 2-4 weeks.
• To learn more about #IVD2021 go to https://www.un.org/en/observances/volunteer-day

A Word about Food Bank Donations.

No surprise, I am in favor of donating to the local food bank (for most readers that would be Thurston County Food Bank http://thurstoncountyfoodbank.org/ ). Recently, I have seen social media discussion regarding what to donate to the food bank, peanut butter versus macaroni and cheese, etc. Before you start cleaning out your pantry, here’s what you should know.

What You Need to Know

While it is wonderful to donate products to the food bank it is better to donate money. Food Banks are exceptionally good at converting your $1 into $3 so monetary donations go farther than products for instance, cash enables the Food Bank to purchase fresh food for their clients. Also, many Food Bank clients are on restrictive diets so that peanut butter or macaroni and cheese are not appropriate for everyone.

Leverage Your Gift Giving

I know finding the perfect gift can be a daunting task. I like to make the job even more difficult by ensuring that the gift also supports a nonprofit! Recently, I have participated in online fundraising auctions supporting several area nonprofits including Arbutus Folk School https://arbutusfolkschool.org/, Grays Harbor Historical Seaport https://historicalseaport.org, Concern for Animals https://www.concernforanimals.org/ and Point Defiance Zoo & Aquarium https://www.pdza.org. Online auctions are a wonderful way to find unique gifts. Here’s a tip, pay attention to the gift baskets as there are often several gifts included. You can give the basket as is or break it up for multiple individuals – including yourself!

Here’s More You Can Do

Another wonderful way to support nonprofits as part of your holiday gift-giving is to purchase gift cards, experiences, memberships or make a donation in someone’s name. Regarding gift cards, in most cases, even if a nonprofit does not actively promote the sale of gift cards, you can work with them to develop a gift certificate. Consider giving a gift certificate to a local theater production like for the Olympia Little Theater http://www.olympialittletheater.org/ If you are unsure about the date or a specific show, consider gifting a membership like to Harlequin Productions https://harlequinproductions.org/support/ or the Hands On Children’s Museum https://www.hocm.org/. Finally, for that person who really does have everything consider a donation in their honor. For instance, this year, we are giving a goat via Heifer International https://www.heifer.org/ to my father-in-law (Hope he doesn’t read this).

I’ll provide additional ways you can support nonprofits during this gift giving season in next week’s column but if you have some ideas please share them with me.

Low-Vision Clinic Open House this Saturday

The Olympia Host Lions Club Foundation invites you to join them for a celebration of their remodeled center this Sat., Dec. 11 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

The Corbin Low Vision Resource Center (LVRC), located at 2103 Harrison Ave NW in Olympia, is the only low-vision resource center in western Washington. The LVRC, operated entirely by volunteer Lions Club members, loans vision enhancement aids free of charge. Equipment available includes closed circuit video magnifiers, handheld magnifiers, task lighting, talking watches, alarm clocks, telephones, computer keyboards and more.

To learn more plan on attending this open house or go to their website at https://olympiahostlions.org/low-vision-resources

Soliciting your ideas

If you know of a nonprofit that is doing something great, celebrating a success, needs some outstanding volunteers or hosting an event, let me know! This column (aside from a little education) celebrates nonprofits! 

Mary Beth Harrington, CVA (Certified Volunteer Administrator) lives in Tumwater. She travels the country speaking at conferences and to individual organizations articulating issues facing nonprofits. Send your ideas to her at  MaryBeth@theJOLTnews.com